Flamboyant liquor tycoon, who sports diamond ear studs even to business meetings, took over the United Breweries group from late father in 1983. Built it into world's third-largest spirits company. Best known for such brands as Kingfisher, also the name of his lossmaking 18-month-old domestic airline.

Methodology: Unlike Forbes' Billionaires list, this ranking has been broadened to include family fortunes. For instance, Tulsi Tanti's $5.9 billion fortune represents his family's entire 70% stake in Suzlon Energy, not just his personal 30% stake. For people with fortunes in publicly traded companies, net worths were calculated using Nov. 6 market prices and exchange rates. Privately held companies are valued by coupling estimates of revenues or profits (or, in some cases, company-provided numbers) to prevailing ratios for similar publicly traded companies.